Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL autonomous driving technology unit, Waymo, issued a recall for 444 of its fifth-generation self-driving cars following two collisions with a pickup truck being towed in Phoenix last year.
What Happened: In December, two of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles in Phoenix collided with the same truck, which was being towed backward and slightly occupying two lanes instead of one.
The incident led to Waymo recalling its self-driving software, a first in the history of autonomous vehicles.
While the collisions did not result in any injuries, Waymo noted that the automated driving systems (ADS) might incorrectly predict the movement of a towed vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash and necessitating a fix.
The company deployed a software update and rectified all affected vehicles by Jan. 12. These vehicles were in Waymo’s possession and were never sold, according to the U.S. auto safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Waymo submitted a recall report to the NHTSA on Feb. 7 to fulfill relevant notification obligations after multiple discussions with the federal agency.
Why It Matters: The incident underscores the heightened scrutiny facing Waymo and other self-driving vehicle operators since a Cruise AV was involved in a pedestrian accident in early October.
In a separate incident last Saturday, a crowd in San Francisco set fire to a Waymo car in the city’s Chinatown district, marking the most destructive attack on a driverless vehicle thus far in the U.S.
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